West Haven’s Westies Care Inc. to honor students and adults who serve the community

Westies Care Inc. event starts at 6 tonight.

Published 1:47 pm, Sunday, March 26, 2017

WEST HAVEN >> Westies Care Inc. will honor 23 local high school students and six community members in its 8th Annual Dinner Celebration of Education and Community at 6 p.m. Monday at Cielo Ballroom, 85 Chase Lane.

“The annual dinner is our way of recognizing the community leaders and students who exemplify our core values of service, education and philanthropy,” said Westies Care Chairman Phil Liscio in a release.

Contact Liscio at 203-494-6021 for reservations or to donate a raffle prize.

Roland C. Depew will be honored as person of the year.

Lifetime Community Service Honorees include:

• Linda Miller

• Denise Carr

• Gary Lindgren

• Kevin Dickson

• Harry Garafalo

Students from area high schools to be honored with Community Service Awards and scholarships include:

Westies Care was founded by members of the Liscio family in 2009 to fund a scholarship program in memory of the late Daniel Liscio, who died more than a decade ago from diabetic shock, said Phil Liscio, who is Daniel’s father.

What eventually became the organization began in the summer of 2009 when the Liscio family held a blood drive and started a scholarship program in Daniel Liscio’s memory, Phil Liscio has said.

From that idea, which was spearheaded by Phil and Janet Liscio’s then-17-year-old daughter Courtney, they decided to do a food drive for WHEAT, the West Haven Emergency Assistance Task Force, Liscio has said. The Liscio’s other daughter, Lauren, also has been involved.

It was when WHEAT wanted to recognize the Liscios for what they had raised that they decided to form a formal organization, which is now a registered 501(c) 3 not-for-profit charity, Phil Liscio said.